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Creating tomorrow’s abortion providers and pro-choice physicians.
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Creating tomorrow’s abortion providers and pro-choice physicians
Today one of the greatest obstacles to safe and legal abortion around the world is the absence of trained providers. Medical schools are simply not addressingthe topic; most physicians graduate with little more than circumstantial knowledge of abortion.
As the largest organization for medical students worldwide, Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) is dedicated to creating tomorrow’s abortion providers and pro-choice physicians. Through our expansive grassroots network we work to destigmatize abortion and persuade medical schools and residency programs to include comprehensive abortion and family planning education as part of the reproductive health services curriculum.
Ensuring that physicians are prepared to meet the full reproductive needs of their patients is just good medical care.
History of MSFC Nationwide, medical schools were not addressing abortion, and new physicians were graduating with little, if any, exposure to this common procedure. MSFC was founded in 1993 by Jody Steinauer, a medical student at UCSF. She and several classmates were outraged by not only the stigma and isolation they encountered as pro-choice medical students, but also the threat of violence to physicians who practiced abortion.
History of MSFC In order to directly combat the growing lack of abortion providers and the declining access to abortion services, they began to build a national network of pro-choice medical students working to make abortion a normal part of reproductive health education.
The core of MSFC is the grassroots – chapters like yours are the very foundation of it all!
MSFC Events • Conference on Family Planning • Regional Meetings • Medical school chapter events • MSFC chapters hold over 1,000 educational events each semester, including clinic visits, lectures, presentations, film screenings, hands on skills workshops, panels, and more!
MSFC Chapter Events You can easily and immediately begin educating your classmates about any abortion and reproductive health topics missing in your school’s curriculum by organizing events on your campus. Events we can help you organize include…
Hands on Skills Workshops on Manual Vacuum Aspiration, IUD Insertion, and No Scalpel Vasectomy.
Lectures, Presentations, and Speakers on topics such as Faith and Choice, Pregnancy Options Counseling, Global Reproductive Issues, Medical Abortion, Current Legal State of Reproductive Rights, Clinical Realities of Abortion, and Provider Perspectives Panel.
Access our free video library for film screenings and events!
Conference on Family Planning • Once a year, MSFC brings together medical students, residents, and our rich network of reproductive health experts at our Conference on Family Planning. • Represent your chapter and learn about abortion and contraceptive topics that you can bring back to your campus. • Gain valuable insights and world-class education from reproductive health experts!
Conference on Family Planning Held annually - this year in Atlanta/Buckhead, Georgia! November 8-9 2014
MSFC HQ will keep you informed about special events like our Abortion Training Institutes and regional meetings!
MSFC’s Abortion Training Institute is a competitive program for those who wish to jump-start their abortion education.
A critical look at curriculum • Has your school devoted just one lecture to abortion, one of the most common surgical procedures? • Have you been able to practice discussing pregnancy options counseling in a simulated patient setting? • Has your pharmacology course discussed medical abortion? (Bet you learned about Viagra!)
Over 1/3 of MSFC chapters are engaged in curriculum reform at any given time.
Join the Curriculum Working Group to take part in conference calls to learn how other medical students are handling curriculum reform at their schools, to learn how to put MSFC’s resources to work for you, and to develop your reform plan with input from others. • Visit the Curriculum Resources Library on MSFC’s website to find presentations and resources that you can use to help develop new materials on reproductive health topics. • MSFC staff can assist your chapter with individual guidance.
In addition to advocating for curriculum reform, attending MSFC regional conferences, and organizing events on your campus, MSFC can help supplement your medical education with our abortion training programs.
Abortion Training Programs At Medical Students for Choice, we believe that medical students should have clinical exposure to abortion care. MSFC has two programs to support medical students’ efforts to receive this exposure. • Reproductive Health Externship Funding Program • Clinical Abortion Observation
Reproductive Health Externship Funding Program (RHE) Provides medical students with financial support for receiving clinical exposure to abortion care outside of their institution’s standard curriculum. Externs should spend at least 2 weeks in a clinic or clinics of their choice. Accepted applicants qualify for a stipend to offset the costs associated with participating in the externship.
Clinical Abortion Observation Opportunity for medical students to spend up to 2 weeks in a clinical setting receiving exposure to abortion care. Financial assistance is also available for this opportunity.
MSFC is active on more than ¾ of the medical school campuses in the US and Canada and at schools in a growing number of additional countries. We have more than 10,000 members worldwide and our chapters held more than 1,000 events last year.
Knowledge is Power. • Regardless of personal beliefs, physicians must be equipped with evidence-based knowledge. Don’t accept your medical school’s failure to prepare you!
MSFC is only as strong as its individual chapters; the work MSFC does is notpossible withoutpassionate students like YOU! Since the beginning, MSFC has been a student-driven organization.
